Thursday, September 30, 2010

Hate Message #24 Concerning the New Socialist Student Union at BCTC

Original Email (I asked the author to explain why he sent me a comment "what an idiot" and explained the etymology of the word):

look i was just simply asking if you were serious about this union crap thing, not trying to get into any type of exchange with someone whos able to successfully dodge all questions and look up the history of words. congrats on that by the way. also, maybe you should look at history- people say all socialist models have failed because they have- russia? cuba? venezuela? north korea? germany? i lived in germany from 01-05, please. that place is a joke. people say capitalism works because it does, and has never failed. if you are trying to think originally then maybe you shouldnt rely on centuries old political thinking ;) compare economies and opportunities in the US vs. ANYWHERE ELSE. that speaks for itself. as far as trying to cleverly argue your way out of answering questions and into some sort of government institute where everybody gets an equal shake and no inequality exists, good luck on this planet. life isnt fair- get over it. all you can do is try hard and stop complaining. government is never the answer- just look at history.

My response:

Why the anger?

1) You haven't mentioned unions until this message and I never mentioned unions--where has this come from? Are you opposed to unions? Why?

2) When did it become a bad thing to understand the origins of words? Does that bother you? For the record, I didn't look up the meaning of "idiot"--I already knew it from studying political philosophy and ancient Greek history.

3) Who are these ambiguous "people" who "say" these bad things about socialism? It is very difficult to understand your point when you do not cite your sources of information beyond "people say?"

4) I would like to encourage you to read some history about capitalism and socialism so you have a better grasp of what you are talking about.

5) I would also like to encourage you to investigate current trends of capitalism and socialism. For instance, currently, Latin America has multiple thriving socialist countries, including Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez just this week won again, for the third time, a socialist majority in the elections.

6) So according to you "Germany is a joke?" Germany is a capitalist country--what are you trying to tell me here? You are undercutting your own argument?

7) Once again who are these "people" you are referring to in regards to "capitalism" great benefits?

8) You state: "if you are trying to think originally then maybe you shouldnt rely on centuries old political thinking ;)" I'm not, I rely on contemporary events in combination with history. You should try it!

9) You state: " as far as trying to cleverly argue your way out of answering questions and into some sort of government institute where everybody gets an equal shake and no inequality exists, good luck on this planet." Sorry, it makes no sense, so I have no way to respond to it--would you like to explain it.

10) You state: " government is never the answer- just look at history" Once again you are undercutting your argument for a capitalist government, unless you are an anarchist and are against governments. If that is the case, welcome brother, because I am not a socialist, I am an anarchist :)

11) I can lend you a book on argument/logic/critical thinking if you would like to develop these skills. It is a vital skill for citizens in our society and I encourage all citizens to develop those skills, including citizens that disagree with me.

Last, but definitely not least, I would like to encourage you to understand political discussions/dialogues as an opportunity to engage with different ideas, to interact with people who are different than you, and to refine your own ideas. Try not to shut the rest of the world out--those that are different than you and/or those that think differently. Otherwise you will miss out on a lot ...

Peace,

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